Power Rangers Vortex
by Alpha 64
Summary: When five teenagers camping in the woods discover a crashed spaceship and are given the Vortex Coins to protect the Earth from the evil Pseudovores and King Tenebris, they becomes the Vortex Power Rangers.
1. Episode 1: Open the Vortex

_I do not own Power Rangers. Power Rangers is (C) of Saban Entertainment, Disney, and Renaissance-Atlantic Films. The Vortex Rangers are a creation of my own imagination based off of the Power Rangers/Super Sentai series._

**-Episode 1: Open the Vortex-**

It was a clear night in the woods outside Ridgeland, where five teens were camping. The five teens, whose names were James, Johnny, Paul, Courtney, and Kathryn, were sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows and having a merry little time. However, this would all soon change, as among the stars above their heads a fierce battle was taking place. An enormous starship, easily big enough to hold one hundred football fields, was sending blast after blast at a small agile ship, which was trying to get rid of the ship that was tailing it. However, the small ship failed to get away, and a blast hit the main engine, causing it to explode. The force propelled the ship's remains into the gravitational pull of the nearest planet, Earth.

"Lord Tenebris, Autro's ship has fallen onto the planet called Earth." A monster on board the warship said to a creature sitting behind him in a regal-looking throne. "I shall not be denied the Vortex Coins after hunting for them for so long." The creature responded, "Send the troops to retrieve them at once, before that fool Autro has a chance to escape."

Back at the campsite, Johnny pointed up at the sky. "Look, a shooting star!" He said excitedly. The others looked to where he was pointing. "Cool." James half-yawned, tired because of how late it was getting. "That's weird," Courtney said, "Why is it still there? Don't shooting stars usually just go by in a second?" The five watched it for a little longer, when suddenly there was a loud "Boom!" and the 'star' broke into multiple pieces. "Oh, it's just fireworks." Kathryn sighed, sounding somewhat relieved. "No," Paul interjected, "If it was fireworks it wouldn't be up so long." "Okay, guys," James said, now fully awake, "I'm just gonna be the one to ask it: Is it just me, or does it look like it's getting closer?"

The others nodded. "Ah, alright then," James said, calmly, "Might I recommend we duck and cover?" As he said this, he started to sound more frantic rather than calm, as the whatever-it-was was getting closer by the second. The five quickly ran for cover, and less than a minute later the UFO (Unidentified Falling Object) crashed less than an acre away from the campsite. James gradually stepped out from behind a tree, as did his four friends. "So... You guys feel like checking that out?" James said, timidly. "Are you kidding?" Kathryn said, baffled. "I'm getting out of here, now! I don't know about you, but last I checked aliens aren't necessarily all sunshine and lollipops." "Who said anything about aliens?" Paul said. "That was probably a plane crash. We should check to see if anyone's alive."

"Can't we just call 911?" Johnny asked, just as reluctant as Kathryn to explore the crash. "Nope." Courtney, who already had her cell phone out, responded. "There's no reception here, and we'd probably have to go all the way back to town to get help." "So you guys coming?" James asked, already heading towards the crash. "Alright." Kathryn said, picking up a large stick and holding it like a sword as she followed her friends towards the crash.

As soon as the five entered the clearing created by the crash, one thing became very clear. This was not a plane crash. The object that had fallen looked, in all respects, like a spaceship straight out of a sci-fi movie. Whatever its original form had been was impossible to tell, as there were so many holes and large pieces either missing or ripped off that you couldn't tell what had gone where. However, among all the debris a few parts were somewhat intact and easy to put a label on, like a jet engine or a sort of cockpit.

The friends were there no more than a minute when a section of the presumed cockpit opened up, and out walked what looked to be a human wearing a green bodysuit. Over the green bodysuit he had on a black vest with white trim, a black belt wilt a silver buckle, black and white boots, a white scarf, and a green helmet. The helmet had two visors, one for each eye, and beneath the eye visors a silver mouth and nose were sculpted onto the helmet. The man stood there for a few seconds, apparently looking the area over, when he spotted the five teens. He started to say something, but he was cut off as his legs suddenly failed him and he fell into a crouching position. James immediately ran to the man, asking him if he was okay. "Don't get close, Jimmy!" Kathryn exclaimed, hiding behind Paul and still clutching her stick, "It could be dangerous!" James ignored her warning, however, and helped him stand up.

"Thank you." The man said to James, thankfully. "You speak English?" James asked, surprised. "No. I am speaking in my native tongue," The man explained, "But my suit's translator chip allows you to hear what I'm saying as if it's in your own language." At this point the others had joined James at the alien's side, although Kathryn still stood a yard away. The man suddenly cringed, and James went to catch him in case he fell again. "I fear my time is nigh..." The man said, his voice growing weak. "Woah, wait," Paul said, stepping forward, "What do you mean? Could you at least tell us what's going on here?"

"Of course." The man said, though his voice was still weak, "I suppose to start I should tell you my name is Autro. I am from the planet Sheza, and am the sole creator of the Vortex Coins."

"Wait, what's a Vortex Coin?" Johnny asked, cutting Autro off. "The Vortex Coins," Autro answered, "Are extremely powerful objects that can grant whoever wields them amazing power. I was being chased by Tenebris, the evil king of the Pseudovores, who was after the Vortex Coins. He managed to deal a fatal blast to my ship, and my ship crashed here on your planet."

Autro cringed again in pain, and James helped him to a sitting position. "The Pseudovores will be here soon to collect the Vortex Coins for their king." Autro continued, when suddenly he pointed at Johnny. "You, go in my ship and bring me the red box. Please, hurry."

Johnny was gone for less than a minute, and when he returned he held in his hands a bright red rectangular box. He handed the box to Autro, who opened it to reveal five golden coins inside. "I apologize if this all seems rather sudden, but there's simply no time to waste." Autro coughed loudly, and it was clear that his time was nearly up. "Please, I must ask that the five of you each take one of my Vortex Coins... Guard it with your life from the Pseudovores, because if they should manage to obtain them, then the entire universe may very well fall under their control."

"I'm in." James said immediately, taking one of the coins from the box and looking at his friends. "Me too." Courtney said, grabbing another coin from the box. Johnny and Paul followed suit, each taking a coin from the box. Everyone now looked expectantly a Kathryn. "Oh, alright, but I know I'm gonna regret this." She sighed as she took the last coin from the box.

"Thank you." Autro said gratefully, closing the box. "Those coins will give you tremendous power so that you can fight back against the Pseudovo-" Autro was cut off as suddenly there was a flash of light and about two dozen aliens appeared only a few yards from Autro and the teens.

The aliens looked like humans in all respect, except that they were covered in black from head to toe, except for a white area on the head that stretched over where the cheeks would be on a human, and they had no facial features except for a mouth. "The Pseudovores are here." Autro said, matter-of-factly, "You must tap into the power of the Vortex Coins to defend both yourselves and the coins from them!" James nodded and stood up, as he and the others stepped forward to face the aliens. James took his coin and suddenly knew what to do. He flipped the coin in the air, grabbed it when it reached the peak of its flip, and ripped it through the air. The coin left a huge red gash in mid-air that completely covered James. As he did this, he shouted out a call: "Coin flip, vortex rip!" After a second or so, the rip disappeared and James stood there, clothed in a red bodysuit with a red helmet, white gloves, white boots, and a shining silver belt with a holster containing a blaster on the side. Over the torso area, the suit also had a large white design in the shape of a Y, with yellow trim on the outside, and over the heart area was a small round badge containing the Vortex Coin.

Upon seeing James' transformation, his four friends copied his movements, shouting "Coin flip, vortex rip!", flipping the Vortex Coins, and ripping them through the air to create a tear in the fabric of space and time, with each tear bearing a different color. After each tear disappeared, they were each standing in a suit similar to James', only instead of the suit being mainly red, everyone had a different color. Johnny had blue, Paul had black, Kathryn had yellow, and Courtney had pink. Kathryn and Courtney's outfits also each had skirts over their suits that went down about seven inches from the belt. To properly accent their new powers, the team posed heroically and proclaimed in unison: "Power Rangers Vortex!"

The five teens immediately took out their blasters and began firing at the Pseudovores, who were so surprised by the sudden appearance of their powers that they were easy prey to the blasts. However, the Pseudovores quickly recovered and began to retaliate by entering close combat with the five. The teens were beginning to be overpowered by the Pseudovores' sheer numbers, when suddenly Autro jumped up and joined the fight, helping them to push back the Pseudovores. "Autro, get away! You're weak!" James said, a worried tone in his voice. "I'll be fine!" Autro said back, "Touch your badges and call upon your Vortex Weapons!"

"Alright!" James answered, pressing his badge and calling forth: "Flamesaw!" As he said this, a beam of light shot out of his badge and a chainsaw appeared out of thin air, painted red to match his suit. The others did the same, each calling out for and receiving a different weapon. Johnny proclaimed "Aqua Axe!", and his beam of light created a large blue axe. As Paul pressed his badge, he shouted "Root Sword!" and received a green sword with a handle made of vines. Courtney called "Hurricane Bow!" and got a large pink bow, as well as a pink quiver full of arrows on her back. Finally, Kathryn shouted "Light Blasters" and received two yellow blasters, much lighter and more powerful than her standard blaster. The team now returned to the fight, their new weapons turning the tides in their favor.

Aboard the warship high above them in the stars, King Tenebris smashed his fist angrily as he watched the fight on a large screen hanging from the ceiling. "That blasted Autro!" He hissed, angrily, "He's already given the Vortex Coins new owners." The creature who had earlier told him Autro's ship had fallen approached him and, bowing, said "Your Evilness, if you would allow me the honor, I would like to go to Earth to-" "You shall assist the Pseudovores, General Dux" Tenebris ordered, cutting him off. Dux stood up and bowed again, thanking him. "Oh, shut up." Tenebris said, annoyed, as he pressed a button on the arm of his throne that teleported Dux down to Earth.

Back at the crash site, the rangers had managed to defeat the last of the Pseudovores and were about to demorph, when suddenly there was another flash of light and a new monster faced them. The creature was humanoid in appearance, but was notably equipped with silver cybernetic armor over a black body suit. The armor had a light blue trim, and covered almost all of his body. "Damn!" Autro swore, under his breath, "It's Dux, Tenebris' top general!"

"How nice of you to know my name, Autro." Dux said with false kindness before turning to the rangers, "Now make this easy on yourselves and hand over the Vortex Coins!" "As if!" James said, lifting his Flamesaw in preparation for combat.

Dux quickly charged the rangers, and James headed him off by pulling a string on the handle of his Flamesaw, which caused its blade to become bathed in flames as James slashed it through his chest. He was left with little time to recover, as Johnny smashed his Aqua Axe into the ground, generating a tidal wave that ran over Dux. Paul followed up the tidal wave by sticking his Root Sword in the ground. About a second later, vines popped out of the ground, tying Dux up and immobilizing him. Courtney took the opportunity and took three arrows from her quiver and shot them each at the same time. Each arrow generated a miniature tornado, about a yard or so tall, that ripped through Dux with ease. Kathryn dealt the final blow by putting her Light Basters together and firing a powerful blast at Dux. As Dux fell, he moaned "You got lucky this time, puny humans..." before disappearing in a large explosion.

The rangers demorphed and exchanged a series of high fives. Meanwhile, Autro was standing up, clutching his side and using the side of his ship as a support. However, unseen by the heroes, a single Pseudovore was sneaking up behind Autro, gripping a steel sword in its hand. James turned to Autro and said, rather cheerily, "So how do you think we di-" but stopped as he saw the Pseudovore. "Autro, look out!" Paul said, as he and the others noticed the Pseudovore at the same time as James. However, it was too late, as before he could react, the Pseudovore had thrust the sword through his heart, killing him. James didn't even stop to morph; he ran to the Pseudovore, took the sword from its hand, and destroyed it within just a few seconds.

The teens mourned over the now lifeless body of Autro. However, they were grieving for little more than a minute when the air began to be filled with the wails of ambulance and police sirens. "We've got to get out of here." Johnny said, blinking away the last of his tears. "We can't just leave him here!" James protested. "We've got no choice," Kathryn responded. "We don't have much time before the police get here, and we don't want to wind up in a government lab, do we?" James nodded, knowing they were right. The five friends quickly ran back to their campsite, packed their belongings into backpacks, and rode their bikes away and back into town.

* * *

_So what do you think? For the record, I based the designs for the monsters, rangers, and Autro on Super Sentai characters that were never adapted over to Power Rangers._

_Autro is based on X1 Mask from Hikari Sentai Maskman.  
__Pseudovores are based on Cotpotros from Gosei Sentai Dairanger.  
__Vortex Rangers are based on Turborangers from Kousoku Sentai Turboranger.  
__King Tenebris is based on Black Cross Führer from Himitsu Sentai Gorenger.  
__General Dux is based on Delu-Knight from Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger._

_Until next time._


	2. Episode 2: The Running of the Bulls

_I do not own Power Rangers. Power Rangers is (C) of Saban Entertainment, Disney, and Renaissance-Atlantic Films. The Vortex Rangers are a creation of my own imagination based off of the Power Rangers/Super Sentai series. Starbucks is (C) Starbucks._

**-Episode 2: The Running of the Bulls-**

On board his spaceship, Tenebris smashed his fist angrily on the arm of his throne. In front of him, Dux was grovelling on the floor. "You have failed me, Dux!" Tenebris shouted, his voice full of rage. "My humblest apologies, your evilness!" Dux said, his head on the ground. "Those humans caught me by surprise; I won't lose to them again, I swear!" "Get out of my face!" Tenebris scoffed. "Return to your chambers and don't come back to me until I have use for you!" Dux stood up and, with his head facing the floor, quickly exited the room. Tenebris pressed a button on his throne's arm and said "Vicben, come to the throne room at once!"

A minute later, a creature entered the throne room. The creature was clothed in knight-like armor and a minotaur-themed helmet that had horns on either side of it, curved to face downward. The creature also had spikes on each shoulder, a simple sword, and a hexagon-shaped shield. Tenebris stood up to greet the creature. "Vicben, you are my top swordsman! Surely you shall not bring me such disappointment as Dux has, correct?" Vicben bashed his sword and shield together triumphantly, proclaiming "Of course not, King Tenebris! No human can stop me and my mighty stampede tactics!" "See to it." Tenebris said, sitting back down in his throne. "Prepare to descend to Earth in one hour's time."

Back in Ridgeland, James was sitting on his couch and watching the news. There had been a small segment on the spaceship crash, but it had all been covered up by the police, who had told the reporters that the explosion and smoke people had seen had just been a small forest fire that they had managed to put out with ease. The area where Autro's ship had crashed was still taped off, but it was clear that they'd gotten rid of the ship, as it would have been easily visible over the treetops. James muted the TV as he picked up his phone, which had started to ring. He checked before answering it and saw that it was Johnny calling.

"Yeah?" James asked, answering the call. "Hey, Jimmy," Johnny answered, "Did you see the news story about the crash?" "Yeah." He responded, sounding somewhat agitated. "I can't believe they would just try to cover it up like that!" "Well, they wouldn't want to create a panic." Johnny pointed out. "Anyways, the others and I are going to meet up at Starbucks to talk about last night. You wanna come?" "But of course." James said, standing up. "I don't want you guys playing hero without me." James hung up the phone, put on a jacket over his red T-shirt, and headed to Starbucks on his bike.

Minutes later James was seated at a table in the corner of the Starbucks with his friends. "Did everyone see the news report?" Johnny asked, starting the conversation. Everyone nodded, and James added "Autro's ship is gone, too. It was more than tall enough to be seen over the treetops, but I couldn't find it when I looked at the woods." "The government's probably been breaking it up and taking it away in trucks." Paul said, sounding more like he was stating a fact than making a guess. "Well, that or the pseudovores did it." James shook his head. "I doubt the pseudovores would know how to pose as the police. Plus, I have a feeling they have the technology to just zap the whole ship to their headquarters if they want to. They wouldn't waste time with sectioning off the crash site."

"This feels more like we're fighting the Illuminati than aliens." Courtney sighed. "Well, who knows? Maybe it's both." Kathryn pointed out. "The two things sort of go hand-in-hand." "Well, what it comes down to is that we've got to get at the ship." James said firmly, leaning forward. "We hardly know anything about our powers. Maybe if we can intercept one of the trucks and check out the ship parts and equipment inside, we can find something out." The five agreed and left the cafe, riding their bikes towards the forest's edge.

After they arrived, they hid their bikes in some bushes and James gathered everyone in a huddle. "Okay, this is the only road that goes by where Autro's ship crashed." James told his friends with a hushed voice, in case there was anyone nearby. "When we see a truck leaving, we morph and stop it. Let's be sure not to hurt anyone who's driving or riding the truck, though. They're just doing their jobs."

They then hid quietly behind the bushes, waiting for a truck, for a good five minutes before they finally heard the sound of a car coming by. Paul peeked over from behind the bushes to confirm it was a truck, and once he nodded to his friends, they all morphed in unison, calling out: "Coin flip, vortex rip!"

The rangers stood in their suits next to one another, blocking the road. As the truck came closer, instead of slowing down the driver honked the horn loudly. The truck was now only about twenty yards away and was still showing no sign of slowing down. As it became clear that the driver had no intention of stopping, James pushed his badge and proclaimed "Flamesaw!"

With his weapon in hand, James ran forward and as he passed the truck he held the Flamesaw low, slicing the truck's tires. However, the blow caused the truck to begin to tip over on its side, raising a shriek from the driver. However, after seeing the truck had begun to tip, Paul had summoned his Root Sword and stabbed it in the ground. Only two seconds after the truck began to tip, it was already being re-balanced as vines sprouted out from the ground, putting the truck back on all four wheels and securing it in place. The driver, however, was still screaming despite being saved, and immediately after the truck was no longer tipping, he opened the door and ran back the way he'd came. Johnny began to chase after him, but James stopped him. "Let him go." He said, pushing his badge to make his weapon disappear. "We've stopped the truck. Now let's see what's inside before he gets back-up."

Once he had blasted the lock off the door to the back of the truck, James pointed to Courtney and Johnny and said, "You two wait out here and give us a shout if anybody comes." They nodded, and James climbed inside the truck as Paul finished sliding the door open.

The equipment had all been cleverly disguised and hidden inside the truck. Everything was packed away inside wooden boxes, and several boxes only contained normal things, like baby toys or groceries. Those were most likely just decoys, but after searching for a bit Kathryn opened a box which at first glance only contained styrofoam peanuts. However, after digging in it for a few seconds Kathryn pulled out a silver briefcase. "Hey, guys, check this out." Kathryn said, placing the briefcase on a closed box and opening it. Inside were five small figurines, each made of a different colored metal and resembling an animal. There was a red salamander, a blue turtle, a green worm, a pink phoenix, and a yellow gorilla.

"What do you suppose these are?" James asked, picking up the figurine of the red salamander to observe it. However, he was quickly distracted as Johnny soon called, "Hey, guys! Come listen to this!" James put the figurine back down, closed the briefcase, and took it with him as he followed Kathryn and Paul to see what Johnny was talking about.

Johnny was standing outside the truck's open door, and he gestured to the others to stand with him. It then became clear what he was listening to was what appeared to be a police radio, which must have been left on by the driver. The voice coming from the radio was somebody staticy, but the rangers could still easily hear the panic in his voice. "_It just... out of nowhere..._" The voice said, somewhat broken up by the static. "_It's some sort of... monster! It's... with a sword... slicing through our cars... Need back-up!_"

As the voice on the radio stopped, James picked up his head and said, "That sounds like one of the pseudovores. The police don't stand a chance on their own, from the sound of things. What do you say we go and give them some help?" The others nodded, and less than a minute later were rushing on their bikes to the area where the radio had said the monster was attacking. Sure enough, when they got to the mentioned street they found an armored monster equipped with a sword and a hexagon-shaped shield slicing up cars.

As the monster spotted the five colored heroes, it stopped what it was doing (which happened to be slicing off the roof of a police car), and turned to roar at the rangers. "Vortex Rangers!" He shouted. "I am the mighty Lord Vicben, the top swordsman of King Tenebris' great army! Surrender your coins now if you value your lives!" "Surrender our coins?" James said, putting the briefcase down next to his bike and scratching his chin like he was truly considering the idea. "Sorry, but I think I'll have to say 'no' to that." Vicben clashed his sword and shield together violently, and shouted "Very well! Then I shall take your lives!"

The horns on Vicben's helmet suddenly turned to point upward, and as Vicben entered a bowing position he began to charge at the ranger's, picking up great speed devastatingly quickly. The rangers barely managed to dodge the stampede, and had only a few seconds to recover before Vicben was coming at them again, this time with his sword. Paul quickly called upon his weapon, the Root Sword, and stabbed it into the ground. A few seconds later, however, when the vines began to rise from the ground to grab Vicben, Vicben dodged them by jumping straight up, and the vines wound up instead grabbing James, who had been about to slice Vicben with his Flamesaw. James managed to ignite his Flamesaw, burning the vines off of him, but couldn't get away before Vicben delivered a powerful slash from above down on James.

Kathryn aimed her Light Blasters at Vicben from her position on top of a bus stop, not noticing Courtney was also aiming to shoot a Hurricane Arrow at him. They both fired at the same time, and as Kathryn's energy beam and Courtney's arrow reached him at the same time, Vicben was rapidly spinning, with his sword and shield stretched out in front of him. He managed to hit both shots at the proper angle, and deflected Kathryn's energy beam to hit Courtney square in the chest, and Courtney's arrow to hit Kathryn in the shoulder, knocking her off of the bus stop.

Johnny took his chance, seeing Vicben had stopped after managing to deflect Courtney and Kathryn's attacks. He jumped at Vicben with his Aqua Axe in hand, planning to smash it on the ground to create a tidal wave to wipe him out. However, before Johnny had even touched the ground, Vicben turned to face Johnny and delivered a powerful kick right in his stomach, sending Johnny flying backwards into Paul.

The five rangers were all laying on the ground, badly hurt by Vicben's attacks. "Now, cease your foolishness!" Vicben roared, bashing his sword and shield together. "Give me the Vortex Coins now and I shall still let you leave with your lives!"

As Vicben taunted the rangers, they quickly regrouped behind one of the few cars he had yet to destroy. "What should we do?" Kathryn asked. "He's way too strong to fight, but we can't just give him the coins!"

"No," James shook his head, vigorously, "We can beat this guy if we just work together. Our attacks were unsynchronized, and that gave him the upper hand. But if we combine our powers, we're sure to win!"

The others nodded, their spirits replenished by the little morale booster. "Where'd you rangers go?" Vicben suddenly cried out, apparently just now noticing that the rangers had disappeared. "Surrender yourselves or I'll destroy this whole town, damn it!"

"We don't plan to let you do that!" James shouted as he and his teammates jumped out from behind the car. As Vicben turned to greet them, Paul stabbed his sword into the ground. Vicben quickly jumped straight into the air as the vines popped out from the ground. However, as he soared upwards, Kathryn combined her Light Blasters, and Courtney prepared three arrows on her bow. They fired in unison, with Kathryn's powerful blast hitting first and knocking Vicben back. The three arrows Courtney fired formed three miniature tornadoes, and Vicben was soon being knocked back and forth between tornadoes in mid-air. As the tornadoes faded away and Vicben began to fall back to the ground, Johnny ran forward and smashed his Aqua Axe into the ground just before Vicben hit the ground. The splash his weapon created launched Vicben back into the air, and as he fell back to the ground, James ran forward and pulled the string on his Flamesaw. Just before Vicben hit the ground, James sliced him through with his Flamesaw, which had become bathed in flames.

Vicben was thrown far by the final blow, and smashed into a nearby building's wall. As he took a few steps forward, Vicben's legs failed him, and he dropped his sword and shield as he fell face-forward and became swallowed by an explosion.

Aboard the warship in space above Earth, Tenebris smashed his fist on the throne of his arm. "Damn those humans!" He shouted out, startling a few nearby Pseudovores. "My best soldier has fallen... But he shall rise to fight one last time!" as he said this, Tenebris pressed a button on his throne's arm. The ship's main cannon began to charge with dark energy, and after a second or so of charging it fired a single small blast down to the surface of Earth.

Back on Earth, the five rangers were exchanging high-fives and cheering at their victory. However, their celebration was cut short as suddenly a black beam of energy shot down from the sky onto Vicben's corpse. Vicben instantly stood up and began to rapidly grow. Within mere seconds, Vicben went from being dead to being a rampaging monster the size of a skyscraper.

"What the hell!?" Paul shouted, nearly falling down out of shock.

"How are we supposed to fight that thing?" Kathryn shrieked. Although their teamwork had managed to destroy Vicben, it had only resulted in him becoming more powerful. James clenched his teeth with anger as he realized their work had been for naught.

However, as if answering the questions on everyone's mind, the briefcase that James had set down near his bike suddenly began to shake violently. At first the team didn't notice it, but when the shaking became so violent that it fell over and opened, Courtney turned and noticed it had opened.

"What's that briefcase doing!?" Courtney exclaimed in shock, pointing at it as if it was a monster.

Courtney's question was soon answered, as when everyone turned to look at the briefcase, the five colored figurines inside suddenly jumped out and, while suspended in mid-air, began to rapidly grow. Within seconds, the figurines had grown to the size of buildings. The giant creatures looked at the rangers expectantly, and suddenly James realized what they were getting at.

"I think they want to help us." James said, stepping forward and looking over the giant creatures.

"I get the feeling you're right..." Johnny said, looking at the giant blue turtle.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Paul asked, looking around at his teammates, who were all looking at the giant creatures. "They obviously can't fight him alone; let's get board them and help them out!"

The others nodded and, using super-powered springs in their boots, jumped onto the heads of the creatures. However, as each ranger jumped onto the creature's head, a trap-door opened beneath their feet, and they fell into a sort of cockpit.

"Woah!" Kathryn exclaimed, shocked. "I wouldn't have guessed these things were robots."

"I get this feeling..." James said, heard perfectly by the other rangers thanks to a communication system between the creatures. "It's like I just know how to pilot this thing... Maybe it's because we have the coins?"

Paul nodded in agreement. "I have the same feeling. And not just that, but I feel like I know how much power they have, and to be honest, I don't think any of them are strong enough to take down that giant bull."

"Well, what if we bring them together?" James asked, the idea just coming to him as if he knew without a doubt it could be done.

"Can we do that?" Courtney asked, although she had the same feeling as James.

"I think so." James said, scratching the chin of his helmet. "Let's give it a shot!"

The five rangers each pressed a large button located inside their cockpit, each one matching their color. Johnny's Turtle Zord launched itself in mid-air and became suspended there, pulling its head and flippers within its shell. In response, James' Salamander Zord and Paul's Worm Zord launched themselves in the air and slid the back ends of their bodies into the arm holes of the Turtle Zord, forming arms, and the head of the Salamander Zord broke up to form a hand. Kathryn's Gorilla Zord then stuck both of its arms into the leg holes of the Turtle Zord. The Gorilla Zord's body then split in half from the neck down, and the split torso and legs joined with the arms to create sturdy legs to support the combined zords. The head of the Gorilla Zord launched upwards and landed in the head slot of the Turtle Zord's shell, and soon Courtney's Phoenix Zord was flying on a collision course with the head. However, before colliding, the Phoenix Zord's body went through a series of complicated folds that caused it to become an intricately designed helmet, sliding over the head snugly instead of crashing. The result of the various transformations was a giant humanoid titan, just as tall as Vicben had become.

Inside, the ranger's five cockpits had combined to form one larger cockpit inside the head of the MegaZord. James, Paul, and Johnny were seated in the front, with James in the middle, Paul on his right, and Johnny on his left. Behind them Kathryn and Courtney were seated, on a platform raised slightly higher than the one the others were on. Courtney was seated behind Johnny, and Kathryn was seated behind Paul. Although the MegaZord had dozens of complicated controls for each ranger to handle, they all seemed able to understand them with ease, as if they were receiving instructions on how to do something as they did it.

Vicben was shocked by the appearance of the MegaZord, which provided an opening that the rangers took. The MegaZord walked forward (it walked because it was both close and unable to run quickly) and punched Vicben with its right arm, which was made up of the Salamander Zord. As the arm came in contact with the monster, it became bathed in flames, burning Vicben through his armor as he was knocked back by the force of the punch.

Vicben quickly recovered, and charged at the MegaZord, much too quickly for it to get out of the way. However, the MegaZord simply turned around, and as Vicben came into contact with the MegaZord, he smashed head-first into the Turtle Zord's hard shell that made up the back of the MegaZord, the blow so great that it caused Vicben's horns to shatter. As Vicben had left both his sword and shield on the ground before he'd turned giant, he was now completely unarmed. Inside the cockpit, James pumped his fist and exclaimed, "Alright! Let's finish this guy!"

The five rangers each placed their Vortex Coin in a slot on the control panels and turned a switch, dropping the coin down. The energy from the coins generated five giant rings that were shot out of the Worm Zord's mouth*. Within the five rings, a massive sword appeared in mid-air, with a silver blade and a handle colored red, blue, black, yellow, and pink. As the rings around it began to disappear, the MegaZord grabbed the sword and held it aloft.

Inside the cockpit, the rangers got their Vortex Coins back as they appeared out of thin air in small trays near the control panel. The rangers picked them up from the trays and held them forward, shouting in unison: "Vortex Sword: Salamander Stab!"

The MegaZord charged Vicben with the Vortex Sword in hand. The Vortex MegaZord made stabbed the weapon through Vicben's chest, and seconds afterwards the sword ignited in flames. The energy created from the surge of fire caused a huge explosion that completely engulfed Vicben, and when the smoke cleared Vicben was gone, the explosion so powerful that there was nothing left of him.

"Damn them!" Tenebris shouted, standing up from his throne. "DAMN THEM!" He shouted again, his voice carrying so much power that he could be heard throughout the whole ship.

Suddenly, the rangers were ejected out of the MegaZord, landing roughly on the ground where they'd fought regular-sized Vicben just minutes earlier. The MegaZord split apart and the zords returned to regular size, re-appearing as figurines in the briefcase. "What was that for?" Paul asked, somewhat agitated.

"I think they only appear if we need them." James answered, walking forward and closing the briefcase.

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped." Kathryn sighed.

James returned to the others and said, "We did well today, guys. What do you say we do one last cheer and call it a day?"

As he said this, he put his hand forward, and in response the others all stacked their hands on top of his. They then threw their hands in their air, shouting together "Power Rangers!"

_*The Worm Zord's arm doesn't end in a hand, but rather ends with the mouth where a hand would go._

_Vicben's design is based off of Devil Cane from J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai  
_


	3. Episode 3: Rolling Into Town

_I do not own Power Rangers. Power Rangers is (C) of Saban Entertainment, Disney, and Renaissance-Atlantic Films. The Vortex Rangers are a creation of my own imagination based off of the Power Rangers/Super Sentai series. Starbucks is (C) Starbucks._

**-Episode 3: Rolling into Town-**

On board Tenebris' warship, Tenebris pressed the button on his throne's arm and growled, "General Dux! To the throne room at once!"

Minutes later, Dux entered the throne room, his head bowed, and stood before Tenebris. "Dux, your previous failure has made it clear to me that one general is simply not enough for my vast army." Tenebris hissed, clearly still upset by Dux's failure. "It is in light of this realization that I have hired two more generals. Pick your head up so that you might greet your new comrades."

The door to the throne room slid open, and in walked two men. One was donned in red armor and held a sword sheathed at his side. He had long black tentacle-like hair and metallic skin, as well as a dead eye that made him look more menacing than he already did.

The other man wore a dirty blue tunic, with spiked armor on his shoulders and arms. Around his waist was a red belt that featured various small control panels and held two holstered pistols on either side. The most distinguishing characteristic about this man, however, was his helmet. Instead of a visor, it featured a large silver five-pointed star and a small mouthpiece.

Tenebris gestured at the men as they stood before him next to Dux. "Dux, this is the renowned space pirate, Latro. He's wanted by the Intergalactic Police for the theft of over two dozen planet's riches and the destruction of eighteen Intergalactic Law battleships."

He pointed to the man in red armor when he said this, and when he finished he redirected his hand to point at the man in the blue clothing. "And this is the evil scientist Chanicus. He's been building and selling powerful weapons of mass destruction for nearly a thousand years, and is as skilled with the gun as he is with the wrench."

The two men bowed, and when they stood back up Tenebris said, "Prepare to descend to Earth, all three of you. I want those Vortex Coins as soon as possible!"

In Ridgeland, the five teens were sitting at a table inside the Starbucks they'd met up in the previous day. They were talking about regular things, like sports, video games, and the such, when suddenly Paul noticed the news report being shown on the TV. "Guys, look." He said, pointing at the TV.

On the TV, a reporter was sitting at a desk and behind him there was a picture of the Vortex Rangers. "How'd they get that picture?" James asked, but was quickly shushed by his friends.

"Yesterday, five apparent heroes dressed in colored suits destroyed a monster who was causing havoc in downtown Ridgeland." The reporter said, and the TV cut to a scene of the rangers beating up Vicben with their various weapons. The TV cut back to the reporter, and the picture of the Vortex Rangers was replaced by the Vortex MegaZord. "The beast immediately grew to the size of a skyscraper, and these heroes proceeded to summon and pilot a giant robot to finish off the beast once and for all."

"Alright!" James exclaimed, pumping his fist. "One day on the job and we're already on the news. How sweet is that?"

James' friends shushed him again, however, as the reporter was still talking. "But are these 'heroes' really as noble as they seem to be?" The reporter asked, suddenly having a stern expression on his face. The picture of the Vortex Megazord switched to show the Vortex Rangers and the truck that they had stopped yesterday. "Prior to seemingly saving the town from the monsters, these masked characters assaulted a government-owned truck. We have General Arthur Milburn here to tell us his account of the story."

The camera panned to show an old man in his eighties wearing a full military uniform, his jacket covered with various medals, sitting next to the reporter. "These 'heroes' are nothing more than thieves!" The general shouted, banging his fist on the table he was sitting behind. "They're able to materialize element-manipulating weapons out of thin air to create massive damage, and stole a total of fifty-thousand dollars from the truck they attacked! If I had to guess, I would say that they only destroyed that monster for their own personal gain. I'm hereby announcing these evildoers as enemies of the state, and if anyone has any information on them that can lead to their capture, go straight to the police!"

"I can't believe this!" James said, exasperated. "We save the world, and to thank us, an old fart yells at us? Seriously, who would believe him saying that we're the bad guys?"

"A lot, apparently." Kathryn said, gesturing around the room. Everyone was now talking about what had just been said on the news, no longer paying attention to it as it had gone straight from that story to talking about a local dog contest. It was hard to make out the separate conversations, but it was clear that everyone was talking down about the rangers.

"I can't believe this..." James repeated, leaning back in his chair.

The teens sat in silence for the next minute or so, when suddenly everyone's eyes turned to the news again. "I've just received word," the reporter said, pressing his earpiece, "That a group of monsters have been spotted on Fifth Avenue. The police are currently evacuating the area, and citizens are warned to stay in-doors."

"Well, that's our signal to leave." Johnny said as the five of them stood up and hurried out the door.

Minutes later, the rangers arrived at Fifth Avenue, where a group of Pseudovores were overpowering the police. Upon spotting the rangers, the Pseudovores cast the police aside and attacked. The rangers took out their blasters and easily defeated the group of Pseudovores within a few minutes, as there were only a dozen there.

"Is that it?" Paul asked, disappointed. "Man, the police should've been able to handle that on their-"

Paul was suddenly cut off as he was hit in the shoulder by an energy blast. The rangers turned to see three figures standing on a bus. One of them the rangers recognized instantly as Dux, the alien they had encountered the night they got their powers. The other two, however, the rangers had never seen before. One was wearing red armor and had gray strands of snake-like hair coming from his head, and the other wore a blue tonic and had a large five-pointed star on his helmet.

"I don't believe we've met, rangers." The alien wearing red armor said, taking a few steps forward with his arms crossed behind his back. "I am the powerful space pirate, Captain Latro!"

"And I," the alien with the star on his helmet said as he stepped forward to be next to Latro, "Am the great scientist, Chanicus!"

"I don't care who you are!" James said, stepping forward. "Because you're about to be nothing more than dust!"

The five rangers each called forth their weapons, and Paul immediately stabbed his Root Sword into the ground, summoning huge vines that wrapped around the bus the villains were standing on. However, the villains immediately jumped straight into the air, dodging the vines. Kathryn immediately aimed her Light Blasters at them, but before she could fire, she was knocked back as she suddenly got hit in the chest by two blasts.

The villains landed on the ground, unhurt despite having fallen quite a ways, and Chanicus blew on the barrels of his smoking pistols. He then taunted Kathryn, saying "You're not going to get a hit in that easily, you foolish girl."

James charged at the three villains with his Flamesaw in hand, and as he pulled the string to set fire to the blade and slashed at his opponents, his blade was met by another, as Latro suddenly unsheathed his sword to block the blow. The two blades scratched against one another for a few seconds, but ultimately James was thrown away as Latro swung his sword to launch James back. Johnny then jumped forward with his Aqua Axe in hand, ready to smash it into the ground. However, before he could do so, Dux dashed forward and, through a series of quick punches, launched Johnny back and into a car.

Courtney now fired three arrows at the villains, each one forming a miniature tornado after being shot. However, before they even came close to the foes, Chanicus fired three shots, each blast tearing through and destroying a tornado. He then fired a fourth shot which hit Courtney strongly in the chest, launching her back.

Paul then charged at the aliens with his Root Sword, but before he got any closer than Courtney's arrows had gotten, Latro had dashed up to him with his own sword in hand and, with a single powerful slash, knocked Paul's weapon out of his hands and flipped him over onto his back.

"These humans are pathetic!" Latro said, disgusted by the lack of a challenge.

"Indeed." Chanicus said, re-holstering his pistols. "There's no need to waste our time with these fools. I've created a monster who should be more than capable of finishing them off. What do you say I summon him and we go destroy the rest of the city?"

"King Tenebris has given us very clear orders!" Dux said, stepping in front of Chanicus. "We are to destroy the rangers and retrieve the coins. Nothing less, nothing more."

"Fine, then." Latro said, joining the others. "You stay here and finish them off while we get all the credit for destroying the whole city."

"Wait!" Dux called as the two began to walk away. "Fine, I'll come with you."

"Excellent." Chanicus said as he pulled a small box off his belt and brought it to his helmet. Into the box, he spoke "Cylindrus, enter battle!"

He then pointed the box in front of him, and a beam of light shot out of it. From the beam of light a monster materialized, featuring a large shell, thick armor-like skin, spiked shoulders, a hideous pig-like face, and a box containing a bright white ball on its chest.

"This, rangers," Chanicus said, introducing the beast, "Is Cylindrus, the Armored Roller. He shall be entertaining you while we destroy the city. Ciao!"

The villains disappeared in a sudden purple and black flash, and Cylindrus wasted no time in beginning the fight. Before the rangers had any time to recover, Cylindrus rolled himself into a ball as easily as if he were an armadillo. He began rolling towards the rangers quickly, his large shoulder spikes sticking out of the sides of his ball-shape to create a dangerous weapon.

Paul tried to stop the attack by blocking one of the spikes with his sword, but he was already moving so fast that as soon as the spike touched the sword, Paul found himself tripping over the spike. Cylindrus bowled past the rangers, running them over before smashing a car into scraps.

As Cylindrus steered back to run the rangers over again, James struggled to stand up. Finally succeeding, he shouted "Johnny, quick! Smash your axe!"

Johnny complied, smashing his Aqua Axe on the ground just as Cylindrus came close. The force sent Cylindrus into the air, and James swung his Flamesaw with all his remaining strength as if it were a baseball bat. As it came in contact with Cylindrus' hard shell, the power was so great that James managed to send Cylindrus flying out of sight. Out of energy, James collapsed on the ground, his suit disappearing in a flash of red light.

On board his ship, Tenebris pressed a button that projected a screen in mid-air in front of him, showing Dux, Latro, and Chanicus ripping apart a telephone booth. "FOOLS!" Tenebris shouted, and thanks to the technology, was heard clearly by his three generals. "Your monster was beaten, Chanicus! Go and find the coins, NOW!" Tenebris slammed his fist on his throne's arm, ending the transmission.

James awoke to find himself surrounded by trees, and as he sat up he realized he was in the woods, and soon noticed his friends were nearby sitting on a log. "You okay?" Paul asked, trying to find a way to lean back on the log without falling over. "You were out cold for awhile. We were starting to get worried."

"Yeah, I'm fine." James said, walking over to sit on the log. "But more importantly, how are we gonna beat Dux and his new teammates? I doubt we can use the same tactic on them as we did with Cylindrus, even if I did hit a home run."

"You call that a home run?" Paul asked, clearly missing the point. "That was a single, *maybe* a double if you got lucky."

"Well, actually, I think I've got an idea." Courtney said, bringing the conversation back on topic. "Come on, listen."

The five leaned forward to listen to Courtney's plan. It wasn't long, or even very complicated. It made perfect sense, but there was just the problem as to whether or not it would work. But they would see soon enough.

Back out in the streets and in their morphed states, the rangers stood, waiting. Then, suddenly, there was a flash of light and the rangers felt themselves being sliced through. As they recovered from the hit, they turned to see Dux, who had just ran them through with a small light blue dagger. "So word is that you went and threw away our gift, rangers." Dux said, turning back to face them as Latro and Chanicus appeared by his side. Then, with extreme sarcasm, added "That wasn't very nice."

"Now!" James shouted, and as he did so roots sprang forth from the ground beneath the villains, sent by Paul's Root Sword, which was firmly planted in the ground. The villains jumped in three different ways to dodge the attack, and the rangers split into three teams to fight them each at the same time.

Courtney and Kathryn began firing arrows and blasts at Latro, who was having no luck getting the girls within range of his sword, as Courtney would summon small tornadoes to knock him back whenever he came close.

Meanwhile, Chanicus was facing a similar issue. Paul and Johnny had come so close to him that he had no room to draw his pistols and shoot, and as a result he was being beaten around with ease by the two rangers' various slashes.

James was having the hardest time, as he had entered close combat with Dux. Despite his dagger's light appearance, it was actually quite powerful, so much so that its blade was equal to that of James' Flamesaw. Fortunately, however, James wasn't aiming to defeat Dux. Slowly but surely, the others were forcing Chanicus and Latro towards Dux.

The villains failed to realize this until it was too late, and consecutive hits from Kathryn's combined Light Blasters, James' charged Flamesaw, and Johnny's Aqua Axe knocked the villains to a sitting position on the ground, each with their backs to the other. Paul quickly tied them together with roots, and the rangers regrouped about thirty feet from the tied-down evildoers.

The five rangers each pressed their badges, and merged the beams of light that appeared. From the combined lights, a cannon formed on the ground in front of them. The cannon had a surprisingly simple design, as it was primarily black in color with light blue wires running all over it. The cannon even had two wheels on either side that matched the design of the main cannon.

The five rangers gathered behind the cannon and each knelt down, placing a hand upon. Then, all at once they released their power into the cannon, shouting in unison: "Vortex Cannon: FIRE!"

Just then, however, Cylindrus arrived on the scene, most likely drawn by the sound of fighting. "Cylindrus, block the shot!" Chanicus shouted, his voice full of rage.

Cylindrus hesitated, but upon being yelled at again by Chanicus, ran in between his creator and the rangers just as a light blue ball of power shot out of it. As the shot collided with Chanicus' shell, there was a blinding flash of light. When the light subsided, Chanicus was laying on the ground in front of the generals, his shell shattered from the blast.

"What did you do!?" James shouted, realizing what had happened. "Why did you make him do that!?"

"Why?" Chanicus asked, half laughing. "Because he's a soldier, and I'm his general, that's why. Think what you will, human, but a soldier's job is to protect his general. I certainly didn't create him with such a thick shell so that he could defend YOU."

"You're heartless!" Courtney shouted at Chanicus.

"Maybe so," Chanicus admitted, still half laughing, "But when it comes to battle, you do what you must to survive. I'm not going to take pity on a monster that I created specifically for battle."

Suddenly, Dux kicked one of his dropped daggers over to Latro. Latro grabbed the dagger and cut the vines binding them with ease.

"Ah, much better!" Chanicus said, standing back up alongside his comrades, "Now, you little mongrels, stop whining about my destroyed creation. He's still got some life in him."

As he said this, Chanicus knelt down beside the corpse of Cylindrus. He took out a pistol and, after pressing a button on the gun's handle, shot the corpse. Standing back, Chanicus watched as the body turned into a ball of energy and soared into the sky. With a sudden flash of light, the ball of energy turned back into Cylindrus, now the size of a skyscraper.

"Ah, crap!" James exclaimed, possibly a little more shocked than he should have been. "Alright, guys. Let's bring out the zords!"

The five rangers pressed their badges, and a beam of light matching the color of the ranger shot out. As the beam subsided, the ranger's zord figurines appeared. As the rangers took them and threw them into the air, the figurines shone with a bright light and turned giant. The rangers jumped on top of the zords, dropping in through a trapdoor to the cockpit. After the zords quickly combined, the Vortex MegaZord stood before Cylindrus.

Cylindrus rolled into a boll and charged the MegaZord, crushing the streets beneath him.

"Let's roast this hard head!" James exclaimed, inserting his Vortex Coin into a slot on the control panel and pressing a button. The Vortex MegaZord's right arm, which was made up of the Salamander Zord, became bathed in flames from the power of the coin. As Cylindrus was about to roll into the MegaZord, the MegaZord attacked with a low punch, sending the monster rolling back from where it came. However, this had an undesired effect as the monster rolled back into a warehouse, destroying it completely.

"No!" James yelled, standing up from his seat. "That warehouse... I just..."

"Relax, Jimmy!" Paul said, gesturing for him to sit back down, "I've got an idea. Courtney, put your coin in the slot!"

"Right!" Courtney said, placing her Vortex Coin in a slot on her control panel and pressing a button, as Paul did the same.

As Cylindrus rolled back to the MegaZord again, unfazed by the building he destroyed, the mouth of the Worm Zord opened wide, and suddenly a tornado escaped its mouth, sucking in lampposts, satellites, and debris. The tornado picked up Cylindrus, but he was too big to be completely swallowed by the Worm Zord. As a result, the suction of the tornado simply glued him to the Worm Zord's mouth, completely unable to get away.

"Alright, Jimmy, now punch it to the sky!" Paul said as he directed the Worm Zord to hold Cylindrus aloft, as if showing him off.

"R-right..." James said, seemingly out of it. The MegaZord's right arm re-ignited, and it punched the ball-shaped monster with extreme force, launching it right out of the Worm Zord's mouth and straight up into the sky.

"Alright, now everyone use your coins!" Paul said, and the five rangers placed their coins in the slots on the control panel and pushing a button.

Five rings shot out of the Worm Zord's mouth, and from the five rings formed the Vortex Sword. Cylindrus was now falling back down from the sky, no longer in ball form. The MegaZord grabbed the sword out of mid-air and slashed the monster as it fell, the power enveloping it in an explosion. The smoke from the explosion cleared, revealing Cylindrus to be completely destroyed.

At Starbucks, the five teens sat at a table, watching the news.

"... And after the large-shelled monster turned giant, the colored mischief makers summoned their robotic titan to do battle." The reporter from earlier that day was positively beaming despite what he was saying, too excited from the boost in ratings to hide his glee. The reporter continued, "However, even this giant creature wasn't enough to make them stop thinking about destruction. The villains used the monster's ball-like body to destroy an abandoned warehouse before they summoned a tornado to suck up anything from satellites to lampposts. Fortunately, both the warehouse and the streets below were citizen-free. There's still no word from the police on these mysterious attacks..."

"Hear that? There wasn't anyone in the warehouse!" Johnny said to James, who was slouched in his seat.

"But what if there had been?" He asked, the attempt at support not helping. "What if that had been an office building? I could have killed hundreds of people... Not to mention that everyone thinks we're the bad guys."

"Not everybody." Kathryn said, pointing to a nearby table.

At the table, a man was talking to his friend about the news, "Man! How stupid are those reporters? The shell guy was making trouble first, then the Color Team destroyed him! How could they call them villains?"

His friend nodded in agreement, adding, "Plus, we can't hold a grudge against them for a little destruction. It can't be helped, and if they'd left that armadillo to do whatever it wanted, then the whole world would've been destroyed!"

"See? Those guys know who the heroes are!" Courtney said, turning back from eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Did they just call us the 'Color Team'?" Paul asked, still listening to the men talk.

"I just have to go clear my head. Later." James said, standing up and leaving the table.

Inside a military facility in the middle of the desert, a soldier stepped up to an old man wearing a uniform covered in badges.

"General Milburn, the rangers were spotted again in Ridgeland." The soldier said, saluting.

"Ridgeland, again?" Milburn asked, chuckling. "Then they're probably still there. Tell the researchers to speed up production of Project CBR. I want those rangers' power, and I want it now!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldier said, saluting again before leaving.

Milburn stepped forward, observing a tank full of a blue liquid substance.

"You're the cause of all this, you miserable alien." General Milburn growled at the tank. "But don't worry, because you'll provide us with the power to protect the country from any attacks, alien or not."

The general laughed evilly, and as he did so, the faint outline of a body could be seen in the blue liquid. The details of the body gradually became clearer, until it was easy to see that the body submerged in the substance was cloaked in a green suit with a black vest and a green helmet...

_Cylindrus' design is based off of Light Armadillo from Choujin Sentai Jetman_

___Chanicus' design is based off of Inazuma Ginga from Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan_

_Latro's design is based off of Captain Gregory from Seijuu Sentai Gingaman vs. Megaranger_


	4. Episode 4: Flames of Red

_I do not own Power Rangers. Power Rangers is (C) of Saban Entertainment, Disney, and Renaissance-Atlantic Films. The Vortex Rangers are a creation of my own imagination based off of the Power Rangers/Super Sentai series. Starbucks is (C) Starbucks._

**-Episode 4: Flames of Red-**

"FOOLS!" Tenebris shouted on board his ship, slamming his fist on his throne's arm as usual. Before him his three generals were kneeling and begging forgiveness. "I thought three generals would mean three times the strength, but it looks as if it just means three times the failure!"

"King, if you will hear my pleas..." Chanicus began, but was quickly cut off.

"Silence! I will tell you when to speak!" Tenebris paused for a few seconds, then continued. "Now you may speak!"

"Cylindrus was just one of my many creations." Chanicus said, and the two other generals stopped begging forgiveness to listen. "I have hundreds of other monsters much stronger than him, and a diabolical plan suited for each one."

"Then show me one!" Tenebris said, though this time sounding more interested than enraged.

Chanicus obliged, pulling a small box off his belt and bringing it to his helmet. Into the box, he spoke "Summon Incendium, the Flame Breather!"

Chanicus pointed the box forward, and a beam of light shot out. From the beam of light a monster formed, bearing fat legs and a bloated stomach, topped with a shield that went around his neck, covering both shoulders and some of the chest. The creature had muscular arms, and on each of his hands he had a long curved blade. The monster also had a fish-like face, with a fair distance between his eyes and sharp jagged teeth.

"This is Incendium." Chanicus said, introducing the hideous beast. "I have designed him so that he can breath a special fire which is impossible to extinguish! He shall burn the earth down to a crisp, and we shall collect the Vortex Coins from its ashes!"

"Marvelous." Tenebris said, clapping his hands twice quietly as applause.

"And, in addition to his powers," Chanicus continued, his voice showing just how prideful he was of the monster, "The rangers are not at full strength! I was observing them after our fight, and it appears the red ranger has become depressed over some minor destruction he caused."

"Excellent." Tenebris said, then waving his hand to dismiss them. "Prepare to descend to Earth with a fleet of pseudovores."

The monsters were in Ridgeland within a half hour, and as the pseudovores, lead by Chanicus and Incendium, caused chaos in the streets, the rangers ran up to them.

"Stop what you're doing!" Johnny exclaimed, as he and the other rangers took out their vortex coins. As the rangers flipped the coins into the air, they shouted: "Coin flip, vortex rip!"

As the rangers ripped the coins through the air, a gash appeared in mid-air in a different color for every ranger. As the rip faded away, the rangers stood in their morphed forms.

"Hello, rangers!" Chanicus taunted, extending his hands as if in welcome. "Allow me to introduce you to my latest creation, Incendium!"

The fish-headed monster stepped forward and clashed the blade-like extensions of its arms together triumphantly.

"I've seen prettier fish." Paul mocked. "Come on, guys, let's make sushi out of him!"

"Sushi?" Chanicus laughed at the idea, as the rangers did battle with the pseudovores. "My, no! You five will be the ones to be cooked and eaten! Incendium, show them!"

The monster turned to a nearby house and, uttering a burp-like sound, breathed flames that quickly spread along the building's walls.

"I've got this, guys!" Johnny said, knocking back a Pseudovore and pressing his badge to call forth his Aqua Axe. Johnny smashed his weapon on the ground in front of the house, summoning a tidal wave that washed over the burning house.

However, even though the water had splashed right onto the flames, the flames still persisted, completely unaffected by the wave.

"You fool!" Chanicus jeered, laughing at their attempt. "You think that the flames of a monster created by me could be destroyed so easily? No! These are the perfect flames, impossible to extinguish!"

"Johnny and I'll go inside and see if there's anyone in there." Kathryn said to her teammates as she followed Johnny into the flaming house, summoning her Light Blasters as she did so.

As James destroyed the last Pseudovore with his Flamesaw, only Chanicus and Incendium were left to face the rangers.

"You guys take fish face." James said, pointing at Paul and Courtney. "I'll take the lone ranger."

As James charged at Chanicus, he used the wide blade of his Flamesaw to block the villain's shots. As James came in close range with him, Chanicus revealed a new surprise. He folded the barrel of his pistol back, making it stand straight up from the handle. He then pulled the trigger, making a small blade raise from the barrel of the gun and creating a dagger-like weapon.

"You didn't think I'd let you pull the same trick twice, did you?" Chanicus said, as his small blade proved to be strong enough to go head to head with the Flamesaw.

Courtney shot arrow after arrow at Incendium while Paul tried to land a blow. However, the monster was handling them with ease, as the sword-like extensions of its arms allowed him to easily block Paul's various jabs and slices, and his fire breath easily scorched Courtney's arrows, burning them to ash in mid-air.

Inside the house, the flames were proving to easily burn any material, as it managed to somehow set fire to solid metal.

"Is anyone in here!?" Johnny yelled, and was answered by what sounded like a falling beam, followed by a woman's scream.

Johnny and Kathryn followed the sound, which led them to a room that looked like the remains of a living area, with a flaming television set, a coffee table, and two ignited couches. A beam had fallen from the ceiling and landed on the coffee table and one of the couches, barring off the gap between the two furniture items that was used as a walkway. Behind the fallen beam, a woman clutched a little girl, attempting to shield her from the flames.

Kathryn fired three shots at the fallen beam, breaking it into small pieces and re-opening the walkway. Johnny used his Aqua Axe to clear away the remaining pieces, and helped the woman stand up before leading her out of the room.

Outside the house, James' Flamesaw was still locked with Chanicus' blade. Deciding to finish the tie, James pulled the string on the handle of his Flamesaw. However, instead of the blade becoming bathed in flames, only smoke flew out of the handle.

"What happened!?" James said, pulling the string again but only getting more smoke.

"You've lost your edge, ranger!" Chanicus laughed, his blade beginning to overpower the flameless Flamesaw. "You can't find your confidence, and so your powers are useless! That piece of junk is just a regular weapon now!"

Chanicus pushed back against the Flamesaw, flinging it out of James' hands and leaving him vulnerable to attack, an opportunity which Chanicus seized by delivering two quick stabs to James' torso, followed by a slash that sent him flying to the ground.

"You humans are weak." Chanicus sneered, lowering his blade to aim at James' heart. "You let your concern for others get in the way of your own well being, and that is why you shall lose to Tenebris."

Just then, the house finally collapsed in on itself, and as it did so, two streaks of blue and yellow flew out from it, landing in the streets to reveal themselves as Johnny and Kathryn, carrying the woman and the little girl to safety. Johnny quickly put down the little girl and took out his holstered Vortex Blaster, blasting Chanicus' blade out of his hands.

Kathryn decided to help Courtney and Paul against Incendium, while the mother and daughter ran to safety. With the added challenge of blocking Kathryn's blasts of light in addition to Paul's sword and Courtney's arrows, Incendium soon found himself taking several consecutive hits.

James and Johnny were now double-teaming Chanicus with their Vortex Blasters, managing to knock him back towards Incendium.

"Incendium! Burn these rangers to the ground!" Chanicus commanded his creation, pointing at the colored heroes.

Incendium uttered a burp-like sound, but instead of breathing fire, only smoke escaped his mouth.

"Drat! Don't tell me you're all out of oil!" Chanicus asked the monster angrily, whacking him in frustration. "Oh well. You shall live past this encounter, rangers. But next time shall be different!"

There was a sudden flash of bright light, and the two villains were gone. Checking around to make sure everybody was gone, the rangers demorphed. As they did so, James' dropped Flamesaw disappeared in a flash of red light.

"Jimmy, what happened?" Paul asked, slightly agitated. "Your Flamesaw should've been able to handle that guy, even if he has a new weapon."

"I don't know." James lied, looking away from his friends. "I pulled the string like I always do, but instead of flames I only got smoke."

"Jimmy, you're still thinking about our fight with the Armadillo, aren't you?" Courtney asked, approaching him. "We already told you, it couldn't be helped. Don't let a small mistake get you so worked up."

"But people could have died!" James protested, turning back to them.

"If we didn't fight in the MegaZord, then even more people would die!" Kathryn yelled back. "When confronted with a giant enemy, we should take the lesser of two evils and go to the MegaZord!"

"Why can't we do it so that nobody has to die!?" James shouted back, angrily. "What kind of heroes are we if we can't even keep people from dying!?"

As soon as he said this, James ran away in anger. "Jimmy, wait!" Johnny called, beginning to chase after him, only to be stopped by Paul.

"Let him go," Paul told the other three, sternly. "If he's going to panic over a single mistake, and then not even put all his power into fighting, then it's better that he leaves now."

The others agreed, though only halfheartedly. Even Paul truly thought that the team would be stronger with five; but there was no point in trying to force James to fight when he didn't want to.

From a nearby roof, Chanicus watched the four teens leave in the opposite direction of their former leader."The internal conflict has begun." Chanicus said, stroking his chin as if in deep thought. "I wonder how they shall overcome this?"

There was another flash of bright light and, once again, Chanicus disappeared. Chanicus re-appeared on the bridge of Tenebris' ship, already bowing to Tenebris, who was still seated in his throne. "My plan has already begun to take effect, King Tenebris," Chanicus said to the evil king.

"What do you mean?" Tenebris hissed, his voice full of anger. "You were defeated, plain and simple!"

Chanicus stood up from his bow. "That was only a lie, King Tenebris. Incendium has an infinite amount of flames stored within his stomach; he only released smoke because that was our plan. With this last fight, the red ranger has finally lost the last of his will to fight. Now, with your permission, I shall send a fleet of Pseudovores to take the red ranger's Vortex Coin, while I take Incendium to finish off the other four rangers."

"Permission granted." Tenebris said, waving his hand. "Now you must succeed, or you shall feel my wrath."

James walked through Ridgeland, trying to think of somewhere to go. Starbucks? No, he didn't want to sit there and see the news say that the burned house was all their fault. The only other option that came to mind was to go back home, so James made a right down the street that would take him home. However, as soon as he turned, James found the street filled with Pseudovores, attacking people in the street and breaking cars and houses alike. James watched the scene in terror. All the people in the street had a face that spoke nothing but fear. James clutched his Vortex Coin in his pocket, feeling pain in his heart as he watched the people suffering. But his powers would only make things worse... It would inevitably lead to more death and destruction. And yet he couldn't just walk away. To leave the people in the hands of the Pseudovores was an unthinkable act. As James struggled with his own thoughts, trying to decide what to do, a group of Pseudovores surrounded him and slowly walked towards him, ready to strike at any moment.

Meanwhile, James' four friends were morphed and fighting Chanicus and Incendium in the park. Johnny and Courtney fought Chanicus, while Paul and Kathryn tried to keep Incendium from breathing fire and destroying the park.

"If there are only four of you, then this battle will be a breeze!" Chanicus taunted, suddenly unleashing a powerful slash that knocked Johnny back into Courtney. "Incendium! Fire, now!"

With a large burping sound, flames escaped Incendium's mouth and set fire to the surrounding grass, quickly spreading.

"No!" The four rangers shouted in unison, as the fire formed a ring around the four rangers and Incendium, trapping them.

Chanicus jumped up on a nearby concrete building, deciding to observe the fight and enjoy watching his monster win over the rangers.

Back in town, James was trapped by the Pseudovores, who would be on him in just seconds. But how could he fight, knowing full well he could cause just as much destruction as them? As a sword-carrying Pseudovore raised its blade to attack, James heard a women's scream from farther down the street. James turned to the source of the yell and saw a mother and daughter, the same ones Johnny and Kathryn had saved earlier, on the ground and about to be attacked by Pseudovores. They were terrified, about to be destroyed, and yet nobody was there to save them...

That was when James snapped. He let go of all the doubts he had about his powers immediately, and taking out his Vortex Coin he flipped it into the air and shouted: "Coin flip, Vortex rip!"

As James caught his coin on its descent, he ripped it through the air, the coin itself managing to slash along several Pseudovores and knock them back before James' suit appeared on him. James immediately took out his Vortex Blaster and shot the Pseudovores about to attack the mother and daughter. The Pseudovores fell, and the mother and daughter ran away, the mother yelling her thanks as she did.

James re-holstered his Vortex Blaster and pressed his badge, summoning his Flamesaw. James immediately pulled the string, and the blade became bathed in flames as he spun around, destroying all the pseudovores that surrounded him. After another minute or so of fighting, all of the pseudovores in the street were destroyed. James prepared to demorph, when he overheard something on a car radio that had been left on.

"... Firefighters are doing their best to try and stop the flames from spreading outside the park, but it seems that the fire is somehow immune to water. We'll update you on this breaking news as we hear more, but for now, enjoy some songs from the 70s..."

The radio changed to playing music, and James was already running in the direction of the park. The reporter had said the fire was immune to water, so it could only be the work of Chanicus and his monster. But James' element was fire, what could he do to help against flames? James shook off the thought, almost at the park.

The four rangers were being beaten by Incendium, taking slash after slash from the blades on his hands. Courtney and Kathryn tried to attack him from a distance, but the ring of fire they were trapped in was so small that there wasn't that much room, and the flames had already spread too far to think about jumping over them... But just then, something did jump over the flames. James, morphed and holding his Flamesaw, making a long leap from the metal playground into the ring of fire. As James crashed down on the ground, he swung his Flamesaw on the unaware monster, slicing off the blades on his hands.

"Look who decided to show up!" Paul said from the ground, where the other three rangers were.

"Sorry about earlier, guys." James said to his friends, not turning away from the monster. "But I'll make up for it now; you guys stay there, and I'll finish this guy off on my own."

"Jimmy, he's too strong! Don't be an idiot!" Kathryn shouted, "Just you won't be enough to beat him!"

She's right, James thought, but he needed to do this by himself. Even if he was fighting his own element, he had to prove to himself that he could overcome that. However, even if he could defeat Incendium, what would he do about the fire...? Suddenly, James got an idea. His Flamesaw could summon flames, and it always sucked them back in once the attack was done. So why couldn't the Flamesaw suck in flames without summoning new ones? It was a long shot, but it was the only thing that could work.

"Alright!" James exclaimed, deciding what to do. "You're going down!"

As Incendium uttered a burp-like sound and prepared to breathe fire, James grabbed the string on his Flamesaw, twisted it, and yanked it with all his might. As the flames escaped Incendium's mouth, they got pulled to the Flamesaw as if it was a magnet and disappeared. However, not only did the flames from Incendium's mouth get sucked in, but so did all of the flames covering the park. Within a minute, all of the flames were gone, the only sign that they had ever been there in the first place the various patches of dirt.

"What the-!?" Johnny exclaimed, dumbfounded by the sudden disappearance of the flames. "Jimmy, what did you do?"

James didn't take the time to answer his friend, however, as he let go of the Flamesaw's string, allowing it to go back to its original position. Then, James charged at Incendium. With his Flamesaw ready to slash, James pulled the Flamesaw's string once again, and this time the Flamesaw did not simply become bathed in flames. As James slashed Incendium, the flames created a large fireball around both Incendium and James, with the flames that the Flamesaw had sucked up clearly being the reason for the increased attack. As soon as James had dealt the slash to Incendium, he jumped out of the fireball with great haste. As soon as he was out, the fireball compressed until it was the size of a marble before releasing a giant explosion that destroyed Incendium.

Chanicus watched the battle from the roof of a nearby concrete building. As the rangers paused to rest, Chanicus rose a small box from his belt and spoke into it: "Fire the cannon!"

Far above the scene in space, the main cannon of Tenebris' warship charged and fired a single blast down onto Earth. The blast landed in the park inside Ridgeland, right where Incendium had fallen. The blast re-energized Incendium and filled him with power, growing him to the size of a skyscraper in a matter of seconds.

"You guys ready to re-enact Clash of the Titans?" James asked his teammates as they stood up and nodded.

The five rangers pressed their badges, and from a beam of light appeared the five zord figurines. The rangers threw them in the air, and the figurines grew into zords. As soon as the rangers entered their cockpits, the zords combined into the Vortex MegaZord.

Incendium had re-grown his hand blades, and he was sure to make this fact known to the rangers immediately as he ran at the MegaZord and prepared to slash it across the chest. He succeeded in this attack, but was quickly knocked back by a punch in the head.

"Alright, guys, let's beat him before he can use his fire breath!" James told his teammates, only a second too late, as Incendium uttered a burp-like sound in preparation to breathe flames.

"Hey, Jimmy, do you think we can get him to fall for the same trick twice?" Paul asked, turning to face James, who was confused for a few seconds before realizing what he meant and nodding.

Paul and James both took out their Vortex Coins and set them into the slots on the control panel, pressing a button to make them drop down. As the flames escaped Incendium's mouth, they became sucked into the mouth of the Worm Zord that made up the Vortex MegaZord's left arm. Incendium stood back up, having fallen while having his flame breath stolen, and jumped away from the MegaZord, now standing on the opposite end of the street.

"Alright, everyone, now let's summon the Vortex Sword!" James told his fellow rangers, who nodded as they placed their Vortex Coins into the slots on their control panels and pressing a button that caused them to drop down.

Five rings shot out of the Worm Zord's mouth, and from the rings the Vortex Sword appeared. As Incendium prepared to charge the MegaZord once again, the Vortex MegaZord grabbed the Vortex Sword out of mid-air. As Incendium raised his arms in preparation to deliver an X-shaped slash, James nodded to Paul, and once again the two placed their Vortex Coins back into the slots on the control panel and pressed the buttons to drop them down. From the mouth of the Worm Zord came the flames that it had just sucked up. Incendium tried to stop himself before he walked right into the attack, but it was too late. Incendium became engulfed in flames once again, and before he could even try to escape the flames, the Vortex MegaZord swung its sword, launching the monster into the sky, where it exploded into pieces too small to even see.

Still on the concrete building in the park, Chanicus watched the fight. He stroked his chin again and, thinking aloud, muttered "So... They won't be overcome so easily by doubt." Chanicus turned away and prepared to teleport. "No matter, they're still too weak to defeat Tenebris." With those last words, there was a flash of bright light and Chanicus disappeared into thin air.

Inside a military facility in the middle of the desert, General Milburn sat at his desk, doing paperwork. Suddenly, his phone rang.

Milburn pressed the speaker button, and from the other end of the line a soldier spoke: "General Milburn, Project CBR is complete."

Milburn responded three short words, "Send them in."

Milburn picked up the phone and put it back down, ending the call, and stood up from his desk, deciding to leave the rest of the paperwork for later. After less than half a minute, two soldiers entered the room, pulling an iron luggage cart. On the luggage cart there stood five figures, each one very similar to the next. They were all shaped like humans, with a silver belt around their waist, and a seemingly ordinary pistol holstered on the side. They each had silver bracelets just below their elbows, and from below there they wore white gloves. Across the chest was a white area upon which wiring could be seen. Each figure also wore a helmet, upon which there was a sculpted mouth, a black visor, and a silver bar going across the front that connected two silver circles on either sides. However, the main distinguishing factor between each of these figures were their colors. The majority of each figure had one specific color, and among the five figures there were five colors: red, black, blue, yellow, and pink.

On the luggage cart before General Milburn were five robots, designed using the energy of the alien they had found at the crash site. The five figures were Project CBR. The Cybernetic Beta Rangers.

* * *

_Incendium's design is based off of Majin Mu from Choujin Sentai Jetman.  
__Cybernetic Beta Ranger's design is based off of the Biomen from Choudenshi Bioman._

_Sorry about taking so long to post this chapter. I've been very busy IRL, but hopefully the next chapter won't take this long._


End file.
